> Why do many of us drive dangerously on the roads? Because we think we can get away with it. That isn't even an answer! You asked what the motivation was, and

> Why do many of us drive dangerously on the roads? Because we think we can get away with it. That isn't even an answer! You asked what the motivation was, and answered that there isn't constraint. So what is the motivation? Do people believe they aren't driving dangerously? Do people drive dangerously despite knowing better? We need more information. First of all, we need to define "dangerous" at least three times: 1. Dangerous in the eyes of law enforcement. 2. Dangerous in the eyes of an aggressive driver. 3. Dangerous in the eyes of a defensive driver. 4. Dangerous in the eyes of a passive driver. Even I am inventing these categories from experience and not evidence; but I think they can provide a lot of insight into the behavior of drivers. 1. Law enforcement uses law itself to determine what behavior is "unsafe". Law enforcement is also motivated to focus on the laws that are more easily enforced than others. There is also the reality that people change their behavior when driving near police: so the more "dangerous" a behavior is colloquially agreed to be, the less likely law enforcement is to see it happen. 2. Aggressive drivers feel confident that they will "get away with it". That means they believe they won't be "caught doing wrong" by police, but more importantly, it means they believe they will succeed in their aggressive driving without incident. I think it would make the most sense to categorize "aggressive driving" as any behavior that minimizes the threshold of safety in order to maximize the utility of driving. That pursuit often feels justifiable, which makes it a common motivator for behavior. 3. Defensive driving is a category of strategy. It's the most explicitly defined of the four: driving behaviors that maximize the threshold of safety by compromising the utility of driving. Some defensive driving behaviors are identical to passive driving, and some are identical to aggressive driving. 4. Passive driving is all about minimizing engagement. That usually means maximizing the safety threshold so you have extra room for mistakes. The important distinction is that passive drivers minimize the amount of engagement in driving. This is the most unsafe thing a person can do behind the wheel, and it's nearly impossible for law enforcement to change. 5. That's right, there's a 5th category: aggressively passive driving. This is the result of both law and state propaganda that tend to focus on specific behaviors like speeding, to the detriment of other safety factors. Some drivers don't only feel justified driving passively: for them, it has become a crusade against whatever they see to be "aggressive" (and therefore categorically unsafe) driving. This is why any 2+ lane (same direction) highway is practically guaranteed to have drivers going the same speed in the passing lane add the traffic next to them. I see aggressively passive driving behavior almost every single time I drive more than a mile from my home. Two cars drive near the speed limit next to each other, and the car in the left lane is being tailgated by a line of cars who want to pass. Everyone here feels like they are justified, and the other is unsafe. There are only two ways for law enforcement to resolve this behavior: 1. Pull over every car that intends to drive above the speed limit. This is obviously not possible. 2. Pull over the driver who is blocking traffic. I have never once even heard of this happening, despite the law being clearly written (and even posted on signs), "keep right except to pass." --- Just like the war on drugs, traffic enforcement in the US is an epic failure to understand (and respond to) the system of motivations that drive social behavior. We need a fundamental change in the way traffic law is structured, so that law enforcement is motivated to resolve problems instead of focusing the entire narrative of enforcement around vain black-and-white statutes like speed limits.